Decision ‘08

The Iranian Shell Game Continues

In just a very few minutes, Iran is scheduled to respond to the ultimatum that it suspend its nuclear program. It will, of course, do no such thing. We have seen the pattern, and news reports indicate we will see it again:

The Iranian government has told senior European officials that it will not accept the only condition set by the Bush administration and its Western allies for talks on the country’s nuclear program and will continue enriching uranium, despite the threat of international sanctions, several senior U.S. and European officials said yesterday.

Diplomats in Washington, Tehran and European capitals said the Iranian government is willing to enter negotiations and to consider a freeze of the program, but it will not accept a freeze as a precondition for the talks.

Thus, Iran will reject the very heart of the offer while pretending to continue negotiations. No one should be fooled by this point. It is time to move forward to the next step: sanctions…they won’t do much good, either, but it’s a necessary precursor to tougher action later. Unfortunately, Iran will not be derailed peacefully from its pursuit of nuclear weapons…

One Response to “The Iranian Shell Game Continues”

1 PartisanTimes.com Says:
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Iran’s Nuclear Deadline Expires, Again

Another nuclear deadline has come to pass, though Iran continues to enrich uranium. But not to worry: Iran is now ready for serious negotiations. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said Tuesday that Tehran was ready to enter serious negotiations over its d…